


12 Potters of Christmas

by TheStoryOf14



Series: Potter Christmasses [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-10
Updated: 2013-10-10
Packaged: 2017-12-29 00:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 7,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/998625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStoryOf14/pseuds/TheStoryOf14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Christmas time in the Harry Potter-universe, and everybody knows it! Selection of one shots picturing Christmas through the years for some of the Harry Potter characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lily Evans

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any characters created by J.K. Rowling. Full credit goes to her for all situations and information mentioned in any of the 7 books or interviews, etc. as well. However, the storyline of this fanfic is all me and the little voice in my head – and thus, of course, not to be copied by anybody else – that would be stealing my creativity, my ideas – and not very nice

*14/12/1974 - Lilly Evans*

I couldn't believe it.  
I couldn't believe how fast time had gone.

And yet, here it was already: our last Hogsmeade trip, and only one week left before we would all go home.  
I couldn't wait to see my parents, it'd been 4 months since I last got to hug mum, since dad last called me his Lillypops, 4 months since I'd last spoken to Tuny.

That was the only thing I wasn't looking forward to, really.  
Tuny had stopped sending me letters all together.  
At least last year, eventhough she was mad at me, she would still send me a letter from time to time.

But she hadn't send a single letter this term, and I really missed her - I missed talking to her, I missed laughing with her, I even missed bickering with her.  
Being ignored was much worse, almost as if I just didn't exist to her anymore...

I hoped we'd get a chance to reconcile this Christmas, after all, what made Hogwarts so much fun, was knowing I could still always go home, and she was a part of home.

But anyway, I needed to find some presents!  
Somehow that had completely slipped my mind this year, I literally hit myself the moment I realised that I hadn't bought anything yet!  
Of course, Potter thought that was very funny, but seen as he had detention with professor Slughorn today, there was absolutely nothing that could ruin this day.  
Anyway, presents.

So, Tuny loved beauty, I know that sounds silly, but it was true: she liked our garden to be all neat, she liked our food to be presented perfectly, she could draw beautifully - oh, I had it!  
I rememberd seeing a book about beauty through the years when I visited Flourish and Blotts in the summer, I just knew she would love it

Next person: daddy - now, he loved to smoke, but mum wanted him to quit, so that wouldn't do.  
Perhaps something to help him quit then?  
No, that might be too pushy...  
But what then?  
As I entered the bookstore, I noticed an add for 'suitcases that can hold just about anything' and I knew, I just knew, that this was it - present number 2: check!

My mum, well, she was easy: every year I got her another magic-like thing, last year it was a small statue of a fairy, crafted by goblins, so this year, I would get a painting of a unicorn.  
The image seemed so vivid that one could almost believe the unicorn was running right towards you, but it really was just a good picture.  
Mum would love it!

That left only - oh God, Alice, why did I have to pick Alice? Every year we played Secret Santa with our year, and this year I had picked Alice, who was nice as can be - but already had everything.  
Jewelery, books, clothes, ...  
You name it, she had it.  
Which left me with only one choice: get her a date to the Christmas Ball Hogwarts held every year.

What she didn't know, was that I knew that she liked the Longbottom-boy...  
So really, I just had to get him to want to ask her to the ball, make it clear that that was my present to her, and there you go: problem solved - easy peasy.  
Or not.

Anyway, Madame Rosmerta apparently had a new Christmas-special, so we were all going to meet there.  
And seen as it had just begun to snow, I decided to go in already, enjoy the decorations, the atmosphere, the butterbeer, ...

I just love Christmas!


	2. Minerva McGonnogal

*15/12/1993 - Minerva McGonnogal*

"Mister Finnegan, that is quite enough, we don't want you setting another hat on fire!"

I sighed, it was the last week before the Christmas break, and I found myself actually looking forward to it for once...

The holiday spirit?  
Yes, all good and well, but somehow the students took that as to have the not-so-hidden meaning "do whatever you please, and break as many things as you can while you're at it!"

I'd probably had more detentions these last few weeks alone than in the whole semester before that!  
The number of pranks pulled were honestly amazing, even Filch seemed to have somewhat given up on trying to find the culprits.  
Then again, he was the target so many times that I suspected he just wanted nothing to do with it for a while, let the madness go away.

However, we, the other teachers, were still trying our best to find those who did it.  
Strangely, though, the Weasley-twins weren't the ones most notorious this time around.  
Somehow the Ravenclaws seemed to have collectively decided to use all that knowledge of theirs to prank the rest of the school, and even the Huffelpuffs were all too willing to use their reputation of being slightly gullible to distract as many people as possible - and thus help all the others to prank as much as they'd like.

Every teacher was constantly on edge, trying to find those who appeared to behave suspiciously.  
But then again, almost everyone did right now.  
And maybe they were right, after all, the tension of this last term seemed to be going away, and even we had a good laugh about in the staff room, but that didn't stop us from handing out detention to everyone we caught in the act.  
And still they just would not learn to behave theirselves!

It had been a succesful, yet slightly scary semester of course, but still, one would think that at age 11 to 17 they would at least learn to behave theirselves!  
However, no such thing - those maddening twins didn't seem to be doing the slightest bit of studying for their upcoming OWL's, and yet they managed to pull pranks that required magic that occasionally went up to NEWT-level!  
The three musketeers were for once not getting into trouble, but I wasn't quite naïve enough to believe that would keep up.  
The Slytherins had long surpassed their usual amount of 'pick on everybody but your own house', and even the Huffelpuffs, usually the easiest bunch in the castle, managed to make pronunciation mistakes that might turn out lethal...

I hoped they would all calm down after the break, but for some reason found myself doubting that.  
As Albus so brightly said this morning at breakfast: the spirit's gotten into them - and there was always some kind of spirit around when you were housing over 400 students in one castle filled with magic.

I suddenly found myself longing for the quiet that I would soon find in my cottage.  
It had been weeks since I'd found some time to go there, and I was missing its view, its warmth, its feeling, ...  
Not to mention the delicious christmas pie my house elf, Nessie, could make.

Ahh, home, how I longed to go back there...  
The library with its fireplace, the kitchen and the smells that would never cease to leave that room - thanks to Nessie again.  
I didn't even know if she had managed to put up my Christmas tree yet?  
I would come back to Hogwarts for the Christmas dinner, as was required from the Deputy Headmistress, but I really looked forward to just sitting in the peace and quiet of my home, listening to the wind blow at the windows, a nice cup of tea within reach...

Well, I guess I could always just go back this weekend then, couldn't I?  
To make sure everything was in order, and as it was supposed to be...  
Yes, I would do that.

However, first I needed to get back to -

"Oh, mister Finnegan, remember the spell I taught you to put out any fire, go ahead!"


	3. Voldemort

*16/12/1967 - Voldemort*

Christmas time...

Haaaa, the time of joy, of carols, of presents -

And what better way to celebrate such a joyous occasion than by doing what one loves to do best?

Which, in my case, means: handing out presents - to my loyal followers of course...

However, first I really needed to do something about this silly christmas carols, they really were just too -

Irritating  
Annoying  
Cursed  
Ear breaking  
Nerve wrecking  
...

Yes, those were the word I was looking for...

However, around this time of the year, I tended to amuse myself by mixing them up a little bit.  
After all, if the Christmas celebrations were different for all people, than surely the Christmas carols would be expected to express these differences, would they not?  
I had managed to create quite the repertoire these last couple of years, my version of Jingle Bells was most certainly worth repeating:

_Blasting curse, blasting curse,_   
_Blow them all away_   
_O what joy it is to kill_   
_And get all out of my way._

Or here, my own arrangement of Silent Night:

_Darned night,  
_ _Blasted night_   
_Mudbloods first_   
_All are cursed  
_ _Make them suffer for all that they are_   
_Scare them, hunt them and chase them far_   
_What a lovely sight_   
_It's such a deadly night_

Of course, there were many more of those irritating so-called feel-good thingies.  
And I honestly couldn't even decide which one I hated more:

_I don't want a lot for Christmas  
_ _There is just one thing I need  
_ _I don't care about the wizards  
_ _Or the way they're filled with greed  
_ _I just want eternal power_   
_And please immortality  
_ _Gone through so much trouble_   
_I just need a Horcrux-_

-well, quite frankly, it might just be that woman's voice that made it so unbearable to listen to, but still -  
OR

_Hark, hear the screams_  
 _Loud, fearefull screams_  
 _All seem so scared_  
 _Filled with despair_  
 _Go, run, fly and be afraid now  
_ _Go, run, fly and be afraid now..._

An all time most hated of mine, though, would probably always be:

_My first ever raid_  
I looked them in the eyes  
 _I saw fear take their power_  
 _And hope quickly die_  
 _Oh raid, oh raid_  
 _Oh raid, oh raid_  
 _Glorious were thee_  
 _And everything to me_

Really, for me, the only way to make things as cheesy and happy as The first Noel bearable, was to change the lyrics to be more-  
 _Fitting_  
-To my sentiments...

This year, however, I still had to decide what would be the seasonal anthem, and right now I was having some trouble choosing between these two:

_You'll be dead by Christmas_  
 _You can count on me_  
 _Please have snow, and mistletoe_  
 _And shovels all aligned_  
 _Christmas Eve, I'll find you_  
 _And have my revenge_  
 _You'll be dead by Christmas_  
 _If only in my dreams_

_I'm dreaming of some cruel torture_  
 _That everyone will have to face_  
 _May they all surrender_  
 _And all be rendered_  
 _To crying, hopeless heaps of dread_

Oh, I truly should have become a poet-  
After all I apparently have quite the gift for it.  
However, I would miss my inspiration too much.

Yes, yes, I really do enjoy Christmas


	4. Hermione Granger

*17/12/1994 - Hermione Granger*

I was actually planning to go home.  
Or at least, I would have gone home, if it hadn't been for him asking me to that ball.  
If neither of those 2 boys would ask me, if they still wouldn't get the fact that I was actually a girl -  
Seen as I hadn't really considered anyone else asking me...  
Now, however, I needed to find a dress, shoes, everything within one extra Hogsmeade excursion.  
For once I actually felt lucky to sleep in one dorm with Parvati and Lavender, because, well, they knew everything there was to know about fashion really - and at least I could count on them to make sure my hair and make up would be perfect and-

This ball really was not good for me, if it got me babbling about looks like that.  
But then again, maybe it would be a nice change for once, to be the pretty girl instead of the smart girl...  
I made my way down from the owl tower hoping that I really had asked for everything I needed for the holiday.

Every holidays, I would reread all the stories I used to read when I was a kid, and the Christmas Break was still the best thing that happened to me.  
All these stories, like Little Women, Railway Children, every single book by Astrid Lindgren, Anna of Green Gables, everything by Jane Austen, ...  
There was a reason people thought of me as a bookworm - and before I knew that I was a witch, those were the books I could escape in, those were the books that allowed me to run away from everything.  
While I was reading, mum would always bring me some hot chocolate with some home made biscuits, and at night we would just watch an old Christmas movie together, or just talk about life and friends and...

This year I wouldn't be able to watch those movies or have that hot chocolate, but I could read my favourite Christmas books again and again - so I'd asked mum to send me all of them, have them delivered by one of those 'special service owls'.  
I would probably miss home a lot, but still, I couldn't help myself from looking forward to the Ball.

I'd been pretty surprised though, when he asked me - I mean: he had swarms of girls just begging to be asked by him, and then he just decided to ask the bookworm?  
Well, at least nobody would have seen that coming...  
I wondered what Harry and Ron would say, would think...  
Harry would probably just be happy for me, he usually was the more calm one in all the fights Ron and I had...  
But Ron?  
Well, I was pretty sure that he would either go all 'fangirl' on Krum, or he would just blow up about something...  
I'd put my mony on the fangirl though, the way he'd been talking about Krum all semester -  
I'd almost think he would've like to go to the ball with Krum instead of me...  
The mental image made me laugh, but I could see Parvati and Lavender waiting at the doors, so I hurried just to hear them say-

"I just can't believe she wouldn't tell us right away, I mean, it's a ball, and it's her date, I just would've thought that-  
Oh! Hi Hermione!"

They immediately grabbed my arms, and as we started marching down the lane, I could clearly hear Lavender say:

"It's time for some Christmas shopping!"


	5. Albus Severus Potter

*18/12/2017 - Albus Severus Potter*

"Albus!"

I could hear mums voice long before the traindoors opened, trying to get to me.  
I'd probably get buried in hugs, group hugs, questions by Lilly, reprimands by mum, smiles by dad, and smirking - a lot of smirking - by James.

I still couldn't believe that the first part of my first year was already over.  
I mean, it seemed like only yesterday that I'd been so scared to be sorted into Slytherin.  
I wasn't, but still: one of my best friends was there, and I honestly didn't care on bit.

In the beginning everything had seemed so big, and scary -  
And somehow I always managed to end up wherever I wasn't allowed to be.  
I swear I didn't do it on purpose, but it was almost as if the castle just wanted me to go there, every time I would take a stair on my own, it would suddenly start turning and moving until I ended up somewhere I was sure I'd never been before.  
Even James had to admit that I probably knew more about the school then he did-  
Although I'm still really not sure whether or not it was worth all those detentions I ended up with, even though I told the teachers I didn't even mean to get there-  
I mean, I didn't even know where I was half of the time!

However, right now, I was just (most of all) really happy to be back home.  
Hogwarts was fun, and the lessons were interesting, but there was just something about going home for Christmas...

The last couple of weeks especially were amazing: it had started snowing about 3 weeks ago, and since then we went out almost every day to have huge snowfights, to build snowmen, and occasionally even some of the teachers would help us.  
Uncle Nev-, I mean, professor Longbottom even managed to get some of his plants to join in: they couldn't throw the snow, of course, but they did manage to sort of store it.  
I really didn't know how he did it, but I would make sure to ask him when he came over during the holidays.

But the snow really wasn't the only marvelous thing these last couple of weeks: there were the group activities, the feast just before we left, the decorating of the Christmas trees, ...  
It's strange, I really didn't even want to leave when we had to go to the train station, but now I couldn't even imagine having to spend Christmas anywhere but home...

After all, everybody knew how much I loved this time of the year, talking with dad, mum sneaking in with some cookies when I was just reading in my room, James being my big brother again, instead of prankster extraordinaire, Lily laughing at all my jokes, grandma Weasley's cooking, grandpa Weasley's muggle stuff, beating uncle Ron in chess (hey, it really did happen!), listening to uncle Charlie's stories about the dragons he worked with, being pranked by uncle George and by Fred, ...  
Even the grand family snowball fight, waking up on Christmas morning and knowing that soon, we would all be opening our presents together, trying to get to your own presents first, trying to sneak a peek on whatever it was that would be lying under the christmas tree...  
There really was nothing like family.

And I just couldn't wait to spend my Christmas holiday with all of them.


	6. Severus Snape

*19/12/1995 - Severus Snape*

Finally.

Some peace, some quiet, some no-more-exploding-cauldrons, ...

Finally.

I'd waited 4 months for this moment...

Got rid of all the children? Done  
Got a stack of supplies? Done  
Got a house elf willing to deliver all food to my personal rooms? Done  
Got the wards around my personal quarters at the highest possible security? Done

In other words: I was ready for the holidays.

A whole three weeks without those thunderheads, a whole three weeks without Gryffindors trying to wreck my nerves, a whole 3 weeks without those darn Huffelpuffs being purposefully dumb, a whole three weeks without those smarty-pants Ravenclaws trying to get better grades by presenting me with extracurricular essays (as if!), even three weeks without having to listen to the constant complaining about all that my Slytherins apparently had done wrong, ...  
Finally some peace and quiet, some time to spend behind my cauldrons, some time to get Madame Pomfrey's requests up to date, ...

Last year Minerva managed to ruin my whole Christmas period by demanding I go to that stupid ball -  
Oh yes, a whole night to talk some courage into that coward of a headmaster.  
Hmmpf, some headmaster he was - leaving his students to their own devices and running off to save his own hide.  
Only 2 problems with that: no way would he be able to hide for the Dark Lord for much longer (if he wasn't already dead and they just hid his body extremely well) and his students apparently were already all too used to doing everything theirselves.  
As I said: some headmaster.

The year before that, it was the whole Black thing - he may not have been to betray his friends, but he was anything but innocent on all records.  
Not to mention that the Potter brat chose to grace us with his presence at Christmas which meant even more work for his safety, by all of us simple teachers.  
I swear, that boy wouldn't know gratitude if it hit him in the face and then did a dance around his head.

1992 was even worse - there was that thing wandering the halls of Hogwarts, general security problem, Potter again causing even more trouble for all of us poor servants, everybody accusing my Slytherins of just about anything that went wrong, not to mention that airhead that somehow managed to crawl his way into our staff room, and all in all that year was just horrible.

I'm not even going to get started on the year before that.

All I ever asked for was a calm, nice, quiet non-disturbed Christmas, but no, even that was too much to ask...

At least this year there was no Potter inside, and he'd taken all of those redheads with him, so maybe, just maybe, there'd be at least some quiet around here.  
Then again, that toad, oh, sorry, Professor Umbridge, was strolling around here, probably more Decretes in the making and at the ready to wreak even more havoc than she already had, so I probably should just prepare myself for yet another ruined Christmas.  
Still - I could hope, couldn't I?

And anyway, if I could try to get in as many potions as possible before all hell broke loose, perhaps, hopefully, nobody would think to force me to join them on any of their Christmassy, seasonal activities.  
Hmph, I would make sure of that.

Beginning now, I probably had no time to lose anyway -

What a Christmas spirit...


	7. Remus Lupin

*20/12/1972 - Remus Lupin*

It was that time of the month again.

And yes, I am fully aware that I sounded very much like a girl when I said that, but anything was better than the descriptions my friends chose.  
Really, James' rabbit and Sirius' fluffy problem made me sound like I was something even stranger than I already was.  
Could you imagine it?  
A wererabbit?  
Please!

But still -  
No Christmas cheer for me - yet.  
I was just glad that this time, I wasn't going to be ruining everyone's New Year's Eve.  
That happened once when I was younger, and it really wasn't pleasant.  
It meant feeling miserable from 3 days after Christmas up to 2 days after New Year - there were things more fun than that in life.  
This time I would hopefully feel better by the time it was Christmas, though, and I looked forward to just spending a simple Christmas with my family.

It'd been 4 years since I'd had one of those.  
And quite frankly, I'd sort of given up on hoping to have a normal Christmas with my family and friends.  
For one, my family hadn't gotten any better off, seen as so many of our so-called friends dropped us.  
And then, I never really thought I would've gotten any friends.

But I guess life just was funny like that some times...  
I'd given up on having friends and everything, and look at me now -  
Terrorizing the teachers with the most famous gang of pranksters Hogwarts had ever known!

The most amazing friends ever too...  
Really, most people - almost all people, in fact - would've run away screaming when they found about my...  
But they didn't.

Instead, they made it bearable for me.  
They gave me friends in my darkest moments-

And look what a drama queen I'd become -  
Severus would probably have tried to record my thoughts somehow, prepared to use it as blackmail material to get out of our next prank.  
James'd say I'd gotten even more feminine - Sirius'd just be laughing his ass off.  
Peter would just stand there wondering what to do, of course, but still...

Anyhow, the things they were doing for me, even trying to achieve right now-  
It was quite rare to find friends like that.  
Trust me, I'd know.

And mum kept telling me every other day just how lucky I got.  
That too.

She was so surprised when she saw all my presents last year.  
I made the mistake to tell that to Sirius, who told James, who told Peter, who told... and now there actually wasn't any room left on our entire floor.

Apparently they felt that if my mum was so surprised that I got some presents, that could mean no other thing than that they simply hadn't yet given me enough.  
The least you could say was that when those boys went all out, they did go all out.

I really couldn't wait to get back to Hogwarts.  
I never thought I would get friends like that, and now I knew that I was going to miss them making ridiculous jokes waiting for me to wake up.  
Or when I'm going in as they called it - I think it was Sirius who once watched some muggle television program to irritate his parents and came up with that term.  
Even their 'words of support' managed to make me feel slightly better about having to go through all that at least once a month.  
Even if, in reality, those 'words of support' just equalled them standing their and yelling stuff like "you go girl!", "enjoy your rabit!" and "don't hurt the Shack, okay?"

True words of support, obviously, right from the heart.

But I would miss them tonight -

I could use some christmas rabbits...


	8. Fleur Weasley

*21/12/1997 - Fleur Weasley*

It was cold in our home.

It was cosy too, that wasn't the problem, but it was just really cold.

For some reason, Ron was determined to leave his window open as much as possible, and the freezing air didn't really help to raise the christmas spirits...

Then again, not knowing where my friends were, how they were, not even knowing if they were alive, or hurt, or -  
It didn't really help all that much either...

Too be honest, this was not how I'd imagined my first Christmas as a married wife...

I had dreamed of waking up in Bill's arms every morning, unpacking our presents first thing on Christmas morning, look at them with longing every other morning, have some pancakes for breakfast, and then just enjoy the morning together, just being happy.  
Then each evening, by the time night fell, we would go to the Burrow, enjoy Molly's lovely christmas dinner, and finally go back home to go to sleep, feeling nothing but contentment at the day that had just past.

How different it was now.

I woke up in Bill's arms every morning, yes, but only to hear Ron stumbling in the room next to ours. When we went down, we would always find some of our own presents returned because the person they were meant for couldn't receive them.  
Not knowing whether that was because they had moved, because they were on the run or because they were -  
It was probably worse than just having the fact confirmed...  
Then we made breakfast, simple bread with jam, because when Bill wanted to go buy supplies the day before, there had just been a raid which meant that all shops had closed early.  
We spent the rest of the morning trying to decide whether or not to go to the Burrow, whether it would be save to leave the house ungarded. Whether it would be safe to take Ron, whether he would want to go, whether he would be safe here - whether he would be able to stand being here, all alone, on Christmas. Whether we hadn't better just stay home, and have a simple dinner with just the three of us...  
In the end, Bill send his patronus to Arthur to let him know we decided just to stay home.  
They didn't know Ron was with us, so they probably just assumed we wanted to spend our first Christmas as newly-weds together, cosy and on our own.  
Molly was kind enough to send us some of her dinner, though, so we were fairly sure didn't hold it against us...

It was a strange Christmas holiday, all in all.  
We were together, Bill and I, and in some way that was enough.  
But I could feel that he missed the business, the noise, the crowdedness that was his familie.  
And I knew that I too, missed the warmth that I always felt when surrounded by his brothers, sister and parents.

It was even more clear that Ron didn't want to be here.  
He was kind enough, thanked us for anything, but still...  
There was a guilt that seemed to consume him, that made it impossible for him to really enjoy anything, to feel the spirit of Christmas.  
To have it feel like Christmas, he needed his friends.  
They were as much his family as Bill was mine now.

But all we could do was hope that he would find a way.  
That he would find a way home.

To his own family...


	9. Fred Weasley

*22/12/1991 - Fred Weasley*

I just LOVE this time of the year...

Less kids to walk in our way as we were trying to bring our experiments to a good end.  
Less teachers to walk in on us pranking someone.  
Less Filch to walk in on us doing whatever - I swear, that man just thinks we can't do anything but 'be up to something'.

Well.  
We usually are, but still.  
It's a matter of principle!

Anyway, we were planning our grand entrance at the christmas dinner later this week.  
Two years ago we chased all the ghosts into the Great Hall before walking in, throwing glitter on just about everybody and then have the ghosts, with a little extra help from Peeves, make a nice little show of being chased away by an overdosis of 'laughter and good spirits'.  
Last year, though, we decided to keep it a little more simple: we made sure every single cracker had one mouse in it...  
Oh, the screaming of Trelawny, the unexpected fear of Flitwick, the hungry look in McGonnogal's eyes...  
It was true Art, I'm telling you, capital A, Louvre-worthy (trust dad to randomly go on and on about the institutions of the muggle world) art.

Last year we managed to involve Percy in it - how we did it, he still doesn't know, but trust me, the look on his face when he realised that he had just, even if it wasn't on purpose, participated in a prank on some of his beloved teachers...  
Ahh, the good memories that come with Christmas...  
Even more good memories: the look on McGonnogals face when she realized that she would have to preach to the perfect Weasley-  
It almost makes you want to do an encore, does it not?

Now, this year or baby brother was here, which meant we had to go all out, but still do it in such a way that it wouldn't be too hard on him or his new friend, after all, we didn't want that poor guy known as The Boy Who Lived To Have His Shoes Eaten By Guinea Pigs, did we now?  
Well, okay, so maybe we wanted that just a little tiny bit - but what can I say?  
It would make for such a mighty good joke!

Bit long to pronounce though, so maybe it really was better not to.

And anyhow, we didn't want our brother to have any permanent damage...  
After all: he was our baby brother - a bit of a prat from time to time, yes, but our baby brother none the less.  
And if I ever hear you repeat that to anyone, I promise you: The Boy Who Lived To Have His Shoes Eaten By Guinea Pigs will sound like a brease to you!

And the Potter-kid was a very talented Seeker, so we really didn't want to risk him quitting the team or something like that.  
He didn't look like a cry-baby, but then again: neither did Wood, and he most definitely had been crying a lot last year...  
Getting our asses whooped at every single game might've played a part in that, but still: no reason not to try avoiding that.  
And really, losing that shamefully two years in a row would be quite bad for our self esteem too...  
Not to mention our appeal with the ladi-

Anyway, our Grand Christmas Dinner Prank...  
What about Dumbledore?  
He always made for a good subject...  
And he was one of the few teachers who would actually laugh at our jokes in public...

First I had to talk to George, but this definitely had potential -

Dumbledore...

I think we might just have found our Grand Christmas Dinner Prank folks!


	10. Sirius Black

*23/12/1976 - Sirius Black*

Oh.

Hell.

Yes.

It was that time of the year again, Festive Friday, Swinging Saturday, Seasonal Sunday, and that could mean only one thing:

it was time for

THE

Most awesome  
Unbelievable  
Proving our talent  
Showing our inspiration  
Honoring the Yuletide Season  
Incredibly amazing

Prank War

Of all seasons.

You see, every year since I had started spending almost every holiday at James' place, we, the Marauders, would get together and get into this HUGE prank war - really, it was just: all things allowed, all persons allowed, all jokes allowed.

Mr. and Mrs. Potter were smart enough to make sure that they always just 'had to meet someone', 'had a dinner to attend', in short: leave the house long enough to make sure that they wouldn't have to eat their christmas dinner with blue hair or a snakes tongue.  
Those 2 actually did happen: in our second year their plans were cancelled and they weren't able to leave the house until after we'd set all of our booby traps.  
Unfortunately, we weren't aware that they were still present in the house, which resulted in some very interesting retaliation by Mr. Potter.  
Although I must admit that it was James' mum that really shocked me: I never realized until then, that it was her that James got his talent for Transfiguration from...  
Anyway, after that, they just decided not to leave the house at all anymore, because really, who wanted to be seen sporting blue hair, a pair of wings that wouldn't look too bad on a hippogriff, or a snakes tongue?  
I may say it myself, but especially that last one was quite genius, a joined master plan of James and I...

Now, this year we had to adapt our plans slightly because Wormtail's parents decided they wanted to go on a "nice family holiday" to Spain (Spain of all places, even there it was freezing right now! If you're gonna go abroad, at least go somewhere nice, like the Bahamas or something like that!), so we planned the prank war before Christmas instead of between Christmas and New Year's Eve (gave us a nice opportunity to use our presents for the first time), but still -  
It was going to be fantastic.

I was lucky to have met James on the train, really, because, well, let's be honest - who else would I have had to come up with all those awesome pranks?  
Admitted: Remus occasionally had some good ideas, and even Wormtail could surprise me from time to time with his unsuspected sneakiness, but the real brains, that was James and me.

Which, naturally, also meant that he was the one I would have to watch out for the most - and would have to get back at the hardest...  
So what could I possibly do?  
Well, green was a christmas colour, and I just happened to be wondering what Prongs would look like in all green.  
Or I could just turn him into Snivellus any time he coughed or sneezed.  
Oh, or I could make him sing the whole soundtrack of The Loveboat to his dad - his mum loved that movie for some reason, and I was fairly sure that James already knew all the lyrics by heart...  
And, oh, yes, this really was a good one, I could make everything shiny attracted to him - literally that is: anytime he walks into a room, all that's shiny, sparkly or glitters comes zooming right at him...

I'd have to find a way to exclude the christmas tree of that though.

Mrs. Potter would lynch me if I touched that thing.

Mental note to self: stay FAR, FAR AWAY from the Potter christmas tree!


	11. George Weasley

*24/12/1998 - George Weasley*

It's strange really.

How everything seemed so like any other year.

Everybody sitting at the table, watching the presents longingly, laughing at each other, enjoying the feeling of a stomach filled with mum's pre-christmas pudding.

And how, at the same time, everything could be so completely, entirely, utterly different...

Last year this time, we had absolutely nothing to celebrate.  
We were at the brink of war, fighting to stay alive, trying to survive this day.

And now, all around the country, people are just being happy, being joyful, letting themselves forget, for one day.

Forget those they wished were sitting there with them.

But I couldn't.

How could I, when it felt as though part of me was missing at this table?  
When I knew that normally, we would've lit the falling stars by now, watching Ginny wish for who-knows-what?  
When I knew, somewhere, that it was okay, but I desperately needed it not to be okay, not to be okay that Fred had died?  
When I wished it would've been him, not me, sitting at this table?  
When I felt guilty for being, somewhere deep inside of me, happy that it was him, that I got to do this at least one more time?

I didn't quite know how to deal with him not being here, with him not sitting next to me and planning al the pranks we would play tomorrow.  
How to deal with knowing that I would have to pull my christmas cracker with someone else.

It seemed stupid, to miss something like that, but I did.  
I missed having another half, always having someone to count on, always know that someone had my back.

But somehow, sitting around the table here, with all our additional family, it didn't feel as if he wasn't here.  
Oh, I knew he wasn't, it was just something about the way mums eyes shone suspiciously when she looked over the table, the way dads hands shook when he cut the meat, the way Ron seemed more calm than at any other Christmas Eve, the way Ginny smiled slightly at Harry any time their eyes met, ...  
It seemed as if he was watching it all, smiling, knowing that we were well.  
And it didn't make me miss him any less.

But it did help.


	12. Ginny Potter

*25/12/2005 - Ginny Potter*

As he pulled the curtains open, I leaned back, resting my head on the wall.  
I still had trouble believing that this was real sometimes.  
That this man, this beautiful man, was all mine, to have, to hold, to keep, ...

We'd been married for almost 4 years now, and still I woke up every morning feeling like the luckiest woman in the world.  
We'd been through so much, apart as well as together, and somehow we'd managed to survive, to come out of it stronger.

I noticed James had somehow managed to crawl out of his crib again, into our bed - and he had an expression that clearly said: "I don't know why, but today is going to be a fun day, I'm going to get lots and lots of presents and (even more important) lots and lots of food and hugs and why are you still in bed?"

As we went downstairs, the first thing I noticed was our christmas tree.  
It might've been a bit on the large side, but I really wanted Christmas to be present all around us.  
So what if I had apparently gone all out on bells, balls and bamboozels?  
Harry and Ron had joked that Christmas exploded in our house, but Hermione seemed to get it.

When I was younger, I always used to wait up on Christmas Day, until a star would fall.  
Now I suspect that it was Fred and George's doing, but at the time I truly believed that every Christmas a star fell across the sky, and every Christmas I would wish for the same thing.  
I'd wish that one day Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, would marry me, and that I would be happy forever after.

The thought made me smile, because I didn't marry The-Boy-Who-Lived.  
I married the boy who saved me because I was his best friend's little sister.  
I married the man who went through more than anyone should ever have had to go through to.  
I married the man who made me feel alive again, who made me laugh again after my brother had passed.  
I married the man that we already considered family before he ever really became family.  
I married the boy who was best friends with my brother and my as-good-as-a-sister.  
I married the man who made me feel complete.  
So no, I didn't marry The-Boy-Who-Lived.  
I got someone ten times greater than that myth would ever be.

It wasn't always easy, though.

Crazed fan girls still threw themselves at him almost everywhere he went.  
Our post still had to be checked for charms, spells and hexes.  
And even after 7 years, there still was the occasional dead-threat.

But I could handle it -  
Because I had him by my side to do so.

We started opening our presents, one by one, each at a turn.  
I couldn't wait to give him my present, but we'd agreed to give those right before we'd leave to the Burrow for a large, big family dinner.

However, I had 2 presents this year.  
And I knew it would be the second one, the one I'd been hiding for a long time now, that he'd love the most.  
When I found out, the plan immediately came to my mind.  
I mean, it took some hiding, and some cunning, but I just really wanted to be able to say it tonight, to make it into the best christmas present Harry would ever get.

The morning continued peacefully, James had gotten enough toys to last him a lifetime, and Harry was preoccupied with those as well.

As we started to get ready, Harry pulled me aside for a moment, to give me my present.  
However, I managed to beat him to it - after all, I had planned it this way.  
I could see that he was happy with the book I got him - it matched the one Hermione had sent, and I knew he was really interested in anything that had to do with Defence Against The Dark Arts or Quiditch, so a book that combined the both of those - it was bound to be a hit.  
From his pocket, he then got a large, square box, which he opened to show a beautiful necklace.  
As I turned around to let him close it, I said:

"Actually, I have another christmas present for you, Harry."

His eyes started wandering around the room, looking for any boxes I might have hidden, so I turned around and told him:

"This time next year, there's going to be an extra person here."

I could almost feel him smile, feel the joy radiating of him.

He pulled me into a hug and I wished him

"Merry Christmas, Harry, I love you"


End file.
